21H.007
Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Studies
Explores the fascinating history, culture, and society of the ancient and medieval worlds and the different methodologies scholars use to interpret them. Wrestles with big questions about the diversity of life and thought in pre-modern societies, the best ways to study the distant past, and the nature (and limitations) of knowledge about long-ago eras. Considers a wide range of scholarly subjects such as the rise and fall of the Roman empire, the triumph of Christianity and Islam, barbarian invasions and holy wars, courts and castles, philosophy and religion, and the diversity of art, literature, and politics. Ponders different types of evidence, reads across a variety of disciplines, and develops skills to identify continuities and changes in ancient and medieval societies.
Fall 2012 · Empire: Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Studies
Topics
- Course Introduction
- Introduction
- Hard Power—From Octavian to Augustus
- Soft Power—Persuasion and the Principate
- Reading the Res Gestae
- Running the Empire
- Empire and the Gods
- Virgil’s Imperial Epic
- Imperial Destiny: Aeneas and Dido
- Reading Virgil
- The City of Rome and the Forum of Augustus
- Assessing Augustus: Suetonius and Tacitus
- Ruthless Tyrant or Benevolent Monarch?
- Overview: The Reigns of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious
- Revising Papers, Topics for Paper 2
- Narrating Carolingian Triumphs: The Annales Regni Francorum
- Assessing Charlemagne: Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne
- Chronicle vs. Biography
- Assessing Louis the Pious, I: Thegan’s Deeds of Emperor Louis
- Assessing Louis the Pious, II: The Astronomer’s Life of Emperor Louis
- Can We Uncover the Real Louis the Pious?
- Imperial Epics: Karolus Magnus et Leo Papa and Ermold the Black
- Apocryphal Stories: Notker’s Deeds of Charlemagne
- Poetry and Anecdote as Historical Evidence
- Carolingian Images of Power
- Origins: Legendary Antecedents for English Empire
- “Early” vs. “High” Middle Ages; the Idea of Arthur
- Beginning the War: The Order of the Garter and the Battle of Crécy
- Continuing the War: English Success, French Resurgence
- Froissart, War, and Chivalry
- Manuscript Images: Close-Reading of the Page
- Ricardian Poetry, Edwardian Themes: Arthur’s Court Reappears
- Chivalry and Empire in a Post-Edwardian World
- Discussion of SGGK
- Combat, Tournament, and the End of a Reign
- The War Continues: Henry V, Agincourt, and Joan of Arc
- Work on SGGK Papers; Final Discussions
- Conclusion: Empire in the Ancient and Medieval World
Readings
- [AWH] = Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew. Augustan Rome . Bristol Classical Press, 2007. ISBN: 9781853991387.
- [JF] = Froissart, Jean. Chronicles . Translated by Geoffrey Brereton. Corrected reprint edition. Penguin Classics, 1978. ISBN: 9780140442007.
- [SA] = Armitage, Simon. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight . Translated by Simon Armitage. Faber and Faber, 2007. ISBN: 9780571223275.
- [Virgil] = Virgil. The Aeneid . Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2010. ISBN: 9780143106296.
- Bowman, Alan, et al., eds. The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. X: The Augustan Empire, 43 BC—AD 69 . 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780521264303.
- Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary . 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780199545568.
- SES #: 4 · TOPICS: Running the Empire · READINGS: Levick. “Techniques of Management and the Feel-Good Factor.” In Augustus: Image and Substance . Pearson, 2010, pp. 115–63. ISBN: 9780582894211.
- Gransden, K.W. and S.J. Harrison. “Reading the Aeneid ” in Virgil: The Aeneid . Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 34–46. ISBN: 9780521539807.
- SES #: 6 · TOPICS: Virgil’s Imperial Epic · READINGS: [Virgil] Book 8.
- Ovid. Ovid, Heroides 7: Dido’s Letter to Aeneas . CANE Press, 2004. ISBN: 9781934971086.
- SES #: 8 · TOPICS: The City of Rome and the Forum of Augustus · READINGS: [AWH] pp. 43–62.
- Suetonius. Lives of the Caesars . Translated by Catherine Edwards. Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780199537563.
- Tacitus. Annals . Penguin Classics, 2013, pp. 1.1–15. ISBN: 9780140455649.
- Jong, Mayke de de. The Penitential State. Authority and Atonement in the Age of Louis the Pious, 814–840 . Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 59–67. ISBN: 9780521881524.
- Jong, Mayke de de. The Penitential State. Authority and Atonement in the Age of Louis the Pious, 814–840 . Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 67–72. ISBN: 9780521881524.
- Jong, Mayke de de. The Penitential State. Authority and Atonement in the Age of Louis the Pious, 814–840 . Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 72–79. ISBN: 9780521881524.
- Jong, Mayke de de. The Penitential State. Authority and Atonement in the Age of Louis the Pious, 814–840 . Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 79–89. ISBN: 9780521881524.
- Papa, Karolus Magnus et Leo. Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance . Translated by Peter Godman. University of Oklahoma Press, 1985, pp. 22–4, and 197–207. ISBN: 9780806119397.
- Jong, Mayke de de. The Penitential State. Authority and Atonement in the Age of Louis the Pious, 814–840 . Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 89–95. ISBN: 9780521881524.
- SES #: 16 · TOPICS: Apocryphal Stories: Notker’s Deeds of Charlemagne · READINGS: [TFXN] “Notker, Deeds of Emperor Charles the Great.” pp. 51–118.
- SES #: 18 · TOPICS: Origins: Legendary Antecedents for English Empire · READINGS: Geoffrey of Monmouth. History of the Kings of Britain . Penguin Books, 1977, pp. 51–74 and 212–65. ISBN: 9780140441703.
- SES #: 19 · TOPICS: Beginning the War: The Order of the Garter and the Battle of Crécy · READINGS: [JF] pp. 37–45, 55–110.
- SES #: 20 · TOPICS: Continuing the War: English Success, French Resurgence · READINGS: [JF] pp. 111–92.
- SES #: 22 · TOPICS: Ricardian Poetry, Edwardian Themes: Arthur’s Court Reappears · READINGS: [SA] pp. 1–3.
- Ingledew. “SGGK and the Edwardian Era.” In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Order of the Garter . University of Notre Dame Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780268031763.
- SES #: 24 · TOPICS: Combat, Tournament, and the End of a Reign · READINGS: [JF] pp. 309–15, 373–85, 402–8, and 421–71.
Prerequisites & course information
Same subject as 21L.014[J] Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Fall 2012
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.